The Kid Should See This

Annie and Grinnell, UC Berkeley’s Peregrine Falcon Parents

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Annie and Grinnell are two peregrine falcons that have lived high up on Sather Tower at the University of California, Berkeley since 2017. They’ve been seen raising their babies up high in their pebble nest thanks to the Cal Falcon nest cams that were set up by biologists in 2019.

This KQED Deep Look episode shares that unique access to tell the extraordinary story of these protected raptors, including footage of their growing chicks:

In one early feeding caught on camera, Annie fed them tiny bits of meat that she plucked from a pigeon carcass and placed in their mouths. Grinnell hunts and stashes carcasses near the nest for Annie. So when the chicks are hungry, she disappears briefly and comes back with a chunk of meat, which Grinnell has already de-feathered. At mealtime, chicks scream nonstop, making mealtime a raucous affair.

annie feeds her falcon chicks
The video also touches on the conservation efforts that brought these birds back from the brink of extinction, including a 1972 ban on the use of DDT, a harmful insecticide that threatened the health of the eggs.

annie and grinnell
Learn more about the parenting team on Instagram, Twitter, and at CalFalcons.Berkeley.edu. Then watch these related videos:
β€’Β How Birds Get Oxygen Inside Their Eggs
β€’ How does a chick hatch from an egg?Β 
β€’Β Like Feathered Fighter Jets: Peregrine Falcons
β€’Β The Kakapo: The world’s only flightless parrot is a very rare bird

Plus: Saving the Island Fox.


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